Number: RL33747
Title: Emergency Communications Legislation: Implications for the 110th Congress
Authors: Linda K. Moore, Resources, Science, and Industry Division 
Abstract: Members of the 2nd Session of the 110th Congress who support sustaining and improving emergency communications have a body of recent legislation on which to build. Since September 11, 2001, successive Congresses have passed legislation regarding technology, funding, spectrum access and other areas critical to emergency communications. These new laws have tended to address specific issues, dealing separately, for example, with interoperability for first responders, improvements in emergency alerts, and 911 call centers. When reviewing emergency communications legislation, whether for oversight or new initiatives, Congress may review the pace of technological convergence and its impact on policies for emergency communications. What once were discrete areas of emergency response are increasingly sharing common technologies. First responders and other emergency workers not only have access to better tools, but also - by adopting new technologies - find themselves confronted with the need to rethink their internal organizational structure and the ways that they communicate with external groups.
Pages: 15
Date: September 15, 2008